A memorable trip to Kashmir – Priya Shetty

Mums and Stories is delighted to share another travel story this month. This one filled with happy memories.

A family trip to remember and cherish for a lifetime
KASHMIR, the paradise on earth. It has always been my childhood dream and it got fulfilled only now. Better late than never right?
So we set off on our journey at five in the morning. Our daughter who never rises before 9 am was fresh as dew. That’s the magic, I guess these much anticipated travels create in our children
Almost the entire day was spent travelling. But did we regret it? Not a bit.

We reached Srinagar and were received by a local friend. He took us to our houseboat on Dal lake. The view of the lake during sunset and sun rise was breathtaking to say the least.

Prisha was super thrilled when allowed to row the “shikara”.
She was made to sit at the wheel of the fast boat. She and her dad went jet skiing as well. That was the one of the best activities for Prisha.

Our days were well planed and the plans very well executed by our local friends. The days were packed and we didn’t waste a single minute in enjoying the Kashmir bliss.

Next day we were supposed to go to Sonmarg when a strike was called at Kashmir due to some internal reasons. But we were not ready to loose even a single day of our stay at Kashmir
All thanks to our friend we braved through the risks and made it safely to Sonmarg. Here all three of us went on a horse ride for three hours up to the Thajiwas glacier.

Unexpectedly and adding to our happiness, we got to see the first snow waiting for us at the top. It was a dream come true for our Prisha.
The trip down the steep slope was quite scary with loose pebbles and one unfortunate person who fell had to be rushed to the hospital
Our horseman, a god sent angel carried Prisha down the slope. Huh was I relieved?

We did go for horse rides at Pehalgam and Gulmarg as well, but none so dangerous. The horsemen at Sonmarg were totally different from the rest. They were not hitting the poor animals but encouraging them to move on in the steep terrains.

Prisha enjoyed every moment of the horse ride building a rapport with her horse and the young orphan horse boy too. She even readily shared her chocolates with him. Guess it’s the Kashmir weather that made her do that.

The cable car at Gulmarg was probably less exciting for the child as she expected it to move super fast with only her in the car.
Well all good things come to an end and so did our visit to this beautiful place with very affable people.

The sad part is the people there are very upset that every where else in India people generally think that Kashmir is a dangerous place to go to. They even presume Kashmiris are violent people.
As per my personal experience, all the Kashmiris I have seen have been very friendly very peace loving people. There is absolutely no disturbances there and everything is peaceful

Random Quote

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”